


A Different Kind of Game

by MissKatt



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Nerve AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-15
Updated: 2018-03-15
Packaged: 2019-03-31 13:45:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13976382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissKatt/pseuds/MissKatt
Summary: Nerve is Truth or Dare, without the Truth. Watchers choose your dare, Players dare to win.Win a dare, win some cash.It's a different kind of game. A dangerous game.The Nerve AU no one asked for but I wrote anyway.





	A Different Kind of Game

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if there are any typos. I only saw the movie version of Nerve, I didn't read the book. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

The assembly was everything Neil hated. Crowded, loud, and utterly pointless. He didn't even know wht they were here for, just that Matt and Dan had forced him to come. They never had before so Neil figured it must be important. He had yet to figure out why. 

Dan held Allison's phone in her hand, filming the cheerleaders Allison lead in their routine down on the basketball court. Matt stood next to her, bouncing on the balls of his feet and giggling. Something was definitely going on. 

Neil glanced around, Matt had at least chosen a seat at the end of the bleachers. Neil turned sideways, his back against the wall, and could see the whole room. Neil had never been one for phones buy it seemed like their were than normal in appearance today. The energy in the room electrified lightning, rather than it's usual dull humming static. 

"Hello, Neil." The voice was Renee's. She climbed up the bleachers to the one below Neil, her yearbook camera slung around her neck. "How are you?" 

Neil fought the crawl on his skin. He liked Renee, he really did. But couldn't bring himself to trust her, even if he didn't know why. Instead of answering, Neil asked "Do you know what's going on?"

Renee was taking pictures of the crowd and the various sports teams on the floor. When she looked at him again, she seemed surprised. "You don't know?"

Neil didn't respond. He thought the answer was prerty obvious. 

Renee sighed in exasperation. It wasn't him, Neil could tell, but at the situation. "Just watch. You'll see." 

She lifted her camera again and turned back to the pep rally.

"Dude. Stand up," Matt pulled Neil to his feet. "This is going to be hilarious!" Matt grinned down at Neil from his irritating height. His smile faded into a frown of consideration. "Stand on the bleacher. So you can see." 

Neil scowled. He intended to ignore that but turning back to the crowd recealed a mass of bodies he couldn't see though. Everyone was standing and screaming chants and catcalls now. His curiosity burned. He stood on the fucking bleacher. He was still shorter than Matt. 

Allison and her cheerleader were in the middle of their routine. The Vixens were one of the best cheer squads in the nation. Allison organized her routines to be risque and sexy, borderline of the getting disqualified. Katelyn, the captain, had recreated the team into one capable highly skilled and extremely difficult stunts. Katelyn stood front and center, Allison off to the side. And then fancy footwork and a flip switched their places. 

And then Allison turned around and mooned the whole school. 

Matt and Dan cheered, Renee sighed. Allison spun back around and waved like a queen as her coach and the principal dragged her away. 

Matt was bent over laughing. Dan was jumping and cheering something that sounded like "She passed! She passed!"  
Neil turned to Renee and found her already looking at him.

"What the fuck?" 

●●●

They were at a diner down the road from the school. It was full of chattering students getting their post-school carb load.

"You got suspended for a game?" Neil asked. 

"Not just any game," Allison corrected hautily. "For Nerve!" 

Neil stared at her. 

"Your a tragedy," Allison dropped her head into her hands. 

"It's an online game." Matt took pity on his pop culture ignorance. "Twenty-four hours only. You do crazy shit and earn money for it. By midnight there will be a winner. They win, like, a hundred thousand dollars. It's wicked." 

Neil's stomach dropped. A hundred thousand? He thought of the quickly-dwindling bills in the false bottom of his backpack. A hundred thousand? 

"Here," Dan handed him her phone. "Just watch." 

The black screen light up with a flash of neon yellow. A synthetic voice spoke, among a montage of video clips and grainy photos. "Welcome to Nerve. The online game like Truth or Dare, but without the Truth. Watchers pay to watch, Players play to win. Do you have enough Nerve?" 

The screen faded back to black, leaving only two words on the screen: a neon yellow "watcher" or a blood red "player." 

Renee continued, "The watchers choose the players dares. If the player completes the dare, they win money. It gets harder as you go and -" she shot a look at Allison - "more dangerous." 

Allison tossed her hair. "Whatever. I'm doing it for fun. It's not like I need the money. I'll stop if it gets bad." 

Neil's head was spinning. "Is this legal?" 

The four of them laughed. 

It was 4 o'clock. There was eight hours left in the game. Neil paced back and forth in his room. Well, not his room or even his house. He was squatting. It was easy enough to forge an identity for school to get admitted. It was a little harder to fake an identity to get a house. 

He ran through the pros and cons of Nerve. 

Pro:  
He could earn enough money to keep living. 

Con:  
It was a publicity stunt that would put his face all over the internet. 

Pro:  
It would be likely be easy, given his history. 

Con:  
He could die. 

Pro:  
His mother would lose her mind if she knew he was considering this. 

Con:  
His mother would lose her mind if she knew he was considering this.

He chewed his lip, heard a rat scurry through the wall next to his makeshift bed - a pile of blankets on the floor. 

He pressed "Player."

His phone buzzed. "Welcome to Nerve" the synthesized voice began. "Confirm Idenitification." A box appeared for his thumb print. 

When the screen cleared, red lettering scrawled across the screen 

GET A TATTOO  
$500  
ACCEPT?

He breathed out through his nose. What happened to starting off easy? 

He tapped his legs on his thigh. Sighed again, decided it was just too easy a 500 dollars to earn. He hit ACCEPT and a timer appearef. Two hours. 

●●●

"I can't believe you chose to be a player!" Matt was floored. "You never do anything exciting! No offense," he added at Neil's flat look. 

"Seems like easy money," Neil replied, deciding not to lie. His friends could tell he didn't have a lot of money from the three day rotation of worn outfits he had. Allison had taken him shopping many times but Neil never allowed her to buy anything for him. He couldn't risk any paper trails linking them, even if it was just credit card records. 

They walked into the tattoo parlor, lit with neon blue. At four in the afternoon, the place was nearly empty. A tall man with sleeves of tattoos worked on a skinny college girl getting what looked to Neil like a bunny on her thigh. It immediately occurred to him that to get a tattoo, he had to choose a tattoo. 

"What should I get?" Neil asked Matt. He eyed a book if samples, all dragons and scantily clad women. Another held various floral patterns. Another different font types. He hated all of it. 

Matt held up a book of insects. "What about a Brown Recluse?" He giggled. "Right there." He poked Neil's neck. "Get it? Recluse?"

Matt danced around the room, suggesting everything from butterflies to narwhals to a portrait of Matt himself. 

Neil walked over to the man behind the counter. "I want a tattoo," he said. "I don't care what it is. Small. No words, no animals. Your choice. Will you do it?" 

The man had been silently watching them move through the shop for several minutes. He didn't even blink at Neil's odd request. 

"It needs to be done in..." he glanced at his phone. "One hour." 

The man sighed and moved around the counter to stand by a chair. "Sit, then." 

Neil sat. The process was surprisingly painful. It was still nothing compared to the pain Neil had grown up with. He chose to get the tattoo on his shoulder, lifting his tshirt sleeve just enough to reveal his bicep and still cover the scar on his shoulder. 

Matt stood to the side, singing along to the rock song blasting through the room. 

"What's your name?" The tattooist asked. He looked only a year or two older than Neil. 

"Neil." When the man only nodded, Neil asked, "What's yours?" 

Hazel eyes glanced up at him. "Andrew."

Neil nodded and went silent. Surprisingly, Andrew spoke again. Neil had only known him for less than an hour but it was clear he was a man of few words. 

"Why the tattoo? You clearly don't want one." 

Neil shrugged. Andrew glared sharply at him, pulling the needle quickly away from his skin. "Sorry. And it's for a game. A dare." 

Andrew's hand froze for the slightest second. His mouth tensed. Neil hadn't realized he'd been watching close enough to notice. 

"You're playing Nerve," he sounded unimpressed. 

"I need the money." Neil found himself suddenly defensive. He went on the offense. "How old are you? You look too young to be a tattoo artist." 

"You look too weak to have such an attitude problem." 

Neil frowned. He was perfectly capable of finishing his fights. "Says the five foot nothing man with flowers tattooed down his arm." 

Andrew glared, his eyes molten amber. He had one arm covered in a black armband, but the other was tattooed, wrist to shoulder. The design was all black and white. Flowers and knives covered his forearm in a haunting mosaic. From his elbow to his shoulder stretched tall a tall forest of trees, cut through with a bare asphalt two lane road. It was back dropped by a night sky so detailed and realistic Neil could find the constellations.

"Can I help you?" Neil met Andrew's eyes, realized he'd been staring. Instead of answering, he glanced at his own arm. The skin seemed pale and boring in comparison. On his bicep was a single dark blue tattoo, about the size of a half-dollar coin. A broken compass, the glass face shattered. 

His eyes met Andrew's. Andrew stared back, a challenge. Neil looked away first. There was no way Andrew could know anything about Neil. So how did he choose this tattoo? Out of all of them? 

"Whoo!" Matt slapped his back, draghing up out of the chair and spinning him in a hug. He handed Neil his phone once his was on the ground again. 

DARE PASSED.  
$500 

"And you have three thousand watchers," Matt told him. "Allison has six thousand. I bet you could beat her." 

"I'm not doing this to win," Neil reminded. "Just the money." He ignored Matt's laughter as he walked to the counter. Andrew had returned to his perch, watching them with heavy lidded eyes. He spoke before Neil could.

"Make me a deal." 

Neil raised an eyebrow, leaning on the counter. There was a bag on the counter of products to take care of the tattoo. Neil found ge actually did want to keep it. He couldn't figure out why. 

Andrew continued, "I won't charge you for the tattoo." 

"And in return?"

Andrew held up his phone. The screen blinked in neon yellow. 

GIVE A MAKE OVER TO A STRANGER  
$1000  
3 HOURS BEFORE FAIL

Neil scoffed, "you judged me for playing and yet you're playing too? Hypocrite!" 

Andrew just stared, waiting. 

"No. I don't even know you!" Neil didn't think about how his heart rate picked up. 

"That's kind of the point, idiot." 

Neil stayed silent. 

"I helped you with yours," Andrew reminded. He walked around the counter, grabbing a black hoodie off the chair behind him. "Yes or no?" 

"Should I get this, dude?" Matt grabbed Neil's attention, holding up the stencil for a llama. Neil looked at Andrew waiting by the door. 

"I'll catch you later, Matt." He walked toward Andrew. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Matt ran in front of him. "What are you doing?" 

"Going with Andrew." 

"What?!" 

Neil sighed, "I got this Matt. He helped with my dare, I'm just going to help with his." 

Matt's mouth dropped. He stared at Andrew, then Neil, then Andrew. He groaned, "You had to choose now to develope a libido?" 

Neil tilted his head, "what?" 

Matt shook his head, a smirk on his face. "Nothing. Fine, dude. But keep in touch, I want make sure he doesn't kill you. Dan will kill me if he kills you." 

Neil allowed Matt to hug him and then followed Andrew outside. He led Neil to a shiny black car, small and deadly looking just like it's owner. 

"Nineteen, by the way," Andrew said. 

The doors unlocked and Neil got in the passenger seat. He ran over their conversation. Ah, his age. Neil wondered if he reciprocate. 

Andrew shifted and the car shot off into traffic, horns blaring as Andrew cut off several people. 

"So-" Neil was cut off as Andrew violently turned the volume knob. The steady bass beat replaced Neil's heart beat. No talking then. 

Andrew cracked a window, pulled a cigarette from the pack in the consol. He put the cigartte between his lips and lit up. He blew smoke out the window, Neil looked away and took a deep nicotine-scented breath. The ride continued in silence. 

It was six o'clock. Six more hours to gain as much money as possible. He checked for a new dare. Nothing yet. Several texts from Allison and Dan about his first Nerve dare. One from Renee that just said to be careful. 

He looked up as Andrew pulled to a stop and follwed him into a brightly lit store. Andrew clicked on his phone and starting streaming. 

He didnt bother narrating like some Nerve players did. He turned a filmed Neil, standing awkwardly in the store in his faded, too-big jeans and ratty gray tshirt. He was pretty sure it had once been blue. 

Andrew's lip curled and he looked Neil over. Neil shifted, looking anywhere but at Andrew. Andrew turned and strode away, picking up a shirt here, pants there, a jacket, boots. 

"In," he said, his tone bored. At Neil's blank look he motioned toward the changing room. "C'mon. There's only 5 minutes left." 

Neil went. The black pants were so tight Neil had to jump around a little to get them on. He remembered shopping with Allison and watching her do the same, she'd never been shy about her body. He'd wondered then how she could breath in them. He got his answer now: the waistband sat so low on his hips it didn't compress his stomach or diaphram. He could barely sit. It was awful. The t-shirt was fitted across his chest and arms, a dark blue color. The boots were thick soled and, of course, black. So was the jacket. 

He stepped out of the waiting room, already complaining. "I thought we were on a time limit. Why would you give me clothes it takes a thousand years to get on?" He tugged at the hem of his shirt. 

Andrew pointed the camera at him, "There. Done." His tone was bland, but his eyes were focused on Neil, rapidly taking him in. He turned off the video. 

"You might be hot if you dressed like that every day." Andrew stood. Neil felt his stomach drop. What was he supposed to say to that? 

He was saved by Andrew's phone. Andrew read it, his eyebrows high. He turned it for Neil to see. 

GO WITH HIM.  
$500  
ACCEPT?

Neil checked his phone. A new dare blinked. 

PICKPOCKET A POLICEMAN'S GUN  
$1500  
ACCEPT?  
10 MINUTES 

He showed Andrew. Andrew's face went blank with surprise. "Are you going to do it?" 

Neil considered. Fifteen hundred dollars. He'd pickpocketed all the time on the run with his mom. It was a quick, easy way to get cash. But a policeman? Neil bit his lip. 

ACCEPT  
10 MINUTES BEFORE FAIL

Andrew follwed Neil outside. There was a public park half a block away. Neil headed there, turning on his phone. 

"Maybe you have a little more spine than I thought," Andrew's voice was lighter than Neil had ever it. "There," Andrew pointed to a cop at the park entrance. He was busy staring at a group of women across the street. 

"You seem to be having fun." Neil didn't think most people's definitions of involved robbing a cop. Andrew gave him a vicious, half-mad smile. All teeth. 

Neil left Andrew and walked down the sidewalk. He matched his pace to everyone else's. Leisurely, he turned into the park. He stopped a few feet in and leaned against the stone entrance of the arch to the park. The officer stood on the other side, well within reach. Neil glanced around. Andrew watched, arms crossed. A teenager further in the park held up their phone, filming. A watcher. Neil's phone blinked at him. Six of his ten minutes were gone. 

He worked quickly, the methods coming back as soon as he needed them. He unclipped the holster, withdrawing the gun in the next second, relatching the button in the third. He kept his fingers hooked into the holster, pushing down enough to mimick the resistence of the gun. He breathed once, then gradually released his hand. 

He ran. He grabbed Andrew's sleeve as he ran past, Andrew moving easily to fall in step. 

Two blocks later, Neil pulled them into the darkness of an interstate overpass. 

Andrew bent over his knees, breathing hard. 

Neil laughed. "It's those cigarettes. They'll kill you." 

"Maybe that's the point," Andrew gasped. Neil returned Andrew's vicious grin from earlier. "You're not even breathing hard," Andrew grumbled. 

"Track team," Neil answered. Andrew scoffed. 

Neil's phone buzzed. 

DARE PASSED  
$1500

Neil sat down, waiting for Andrew to catch his breath. 

"Why play the game?" Andrew didn't sound curious, but Neil figured he wouldn't have asked otherwise. He considered his answer. 

"I told you. The money." 

"Most people would just get a job." 

Neil laughed, "I'll make more tonight than I could in six months at a part time, minimum wage job. Probably a full time minimum wage." 

Andrew looked at him, lit a cigarette. Neil watched him breath smoke. He reached forward to took the cigarette from him, breathing in once. He didn't smoke it, just let it burn. Andrew watched, frowning. He lit a second. 

"I don't like liars." 

Neil pulled his knees to his chest. "What gave me away?" 

Andrew didn't answer. 

"Why are you playing?" 

Andrew took a long drag and blew the smoke in Neil's face. His phone buzzed and Andrew held it out between them. 

PLAY FROGGER BLINDFOLDED: I-126  
$2000  
ACCEPT

Neil choked on smoke. "What? They can't be serious. 

Andrew stood and walked back to the road. Interstate 126 was visible from here. An eight lane highway with a median in the center, cars going anywhere from 50 miles and hour to 80. At half past six it had moderate and scattered traffic. 

"Absolutely not," Neil said. "You'll get hit, Andrew. You'll die!" Neil could barely at just the thought of doing this. 

Andrew was breathing steady but deep, his broad chest rising and falling dramatically. He looked at his phone. 

ACCEPT  
15 minutes

"Andrew!" Neil couldn't breath. 

"Shut up," Andrew growled. His pulled off his hoodie and put it back backwards. 

"I can't watch this," Neil walked away, stopped. He turned back around to watch Andrew approach the edge of the highway. His hands shook as he pulled his hood up, over his face, tying the strings at the back of his head to hold it there. Neil's heart stopped. 

Andrew held his phone in front of him, turned it around to show traffic. Then he began to walk. 

The first lane was easy enough, the drivers saw him on the side of the road and changed lanes to give him space. It was dusk though, and he was dressed all in black. 

The second lane sent cars swerving, horns blaring. Andrew froze. Neil ran to the edge of the road, he couldn't feel his heart, couldn't breath. 

A gap in the cars for the next three lanes had Neil yelling for Andrew to run. He didn't hesitate, sprinting forward. He heard a muffled, "fuck!" as Andrew ran into the median. He gripped it tight, knuckles white. He climbed over. The next two lanes passed easily enough, all thing considered. A mini coup was tiny enough enough to not hit the cars around it, and still avoid Andrew. The driver screamed obscenities at Andrew as he passed. A semi came barelling down the far lane. Andrew didn't know, couldn't see. Neil was going to puke. Even if he yelled at Andrew to run, he wouldn't be able to hear. The truck driver blared horns. It was loudest sound in the world. Andrew ran, the truck passing by close enough for the air to shove him to his knees. Or maybe they just gave out. His phone dinged in his hand, the sound of a passed dare. Andrew clawed at the strings tying the hoodie. He couldn't breath. He couldn't- 

"Hey," Neil's voice was tight but quiet. "I got it. Can I untie it for you?" 

Andrew nodded, unable to speak. The ties came lose and his hood fell off. Andrew gasped, his cheeks burning red with excertion. Neil knelt in front of him, his face ghostly pale. 

"You're a dumbass," Neil breathed. "Are you okay?" 

Andrew glared. 

Neil nodded. "Right. Of course not." He grinned. "But look, you did it with six minutes to spare." 

Andrew didn't say it felt like a helluva lot longer than that. From the look in Neil's eyes he didn't need to. 

Neil kept talking, "Also, you have seven thousand watchers now. You made the top five." He grinned like everything was fine, but his pupils were still dilated with adrenaline. Andrew wondered where he'd learned to lie so well. He wondered if those blue eyes were as fake as the brown hair. He hoped not. 

Neil's phone dinged. The both stilled. When Neil didn't move to look, Andrew took it. 

"I'm not sure I want to know. After what they did to you." Andrew tried not to notice the concern in his voice. For him. For Andrew. 

Neil watched Andrew read, watched his eyes flick up and settle somewhere behind Neil. Neil glanced over his shoulder. Run down building lined the highway, desolate and dirty. Train tracks ran across the block, next to the powerlines. 

Neil looked back at Andrew. "Please tell me -" 

"Don't say that word," Andrew's voice was harsh and cold. Neil blinked. Replayed his sentence. 

"Tell me it isn't what I think it is," he amended, watching Andrew closely. 

The lines around Andrew's eyes disappeared. His shoulders relaxed as he held up Neil's phone. 

LAY ON THE TRACKS FOR 60 SECONDS.  
$2500  
5 MINUTES

Neil breathed through his nose. Okay. Okay. He just has to lay there. Okay. He walked to the tracks, Andrew at his side.

Three minutes. The buildings stopped 50 feet from the tracks. The grass was dead, the gravel between the tracks nearly turned to dust. 

45 seconds

Neil layed down, positioned his phone by his head. Train horns rang out and he heard Andrew curse. 

"Dammit. I knew it was too easy." Andrew stared at the train rumbling toward them. "You don't have to do this." Andrew reminded him. "I actually highly suggest you don't."

"I have to," Neil said. Starring at the train, the headlamp burning his retinas. 

"You don't need money this bad." Andrew's bored voice betrayed his terror. Not to anyone else, probably, but Neil could see it in his stance. 

Neil thought the beach in California, blood soaking his clothes. He remembered trying to run through the snowy moutains in Sweden, dragging a broken leg behind himself. The bang of a gun, the glint of a knife. It hurt to swallow, "Yeah. Yeah, I do."

He laid down. Andrew moved back, his back pressed to the wall of the building. 

Neil pressed himself as flat as he could, the gravel pressing hard into back. He had never been more grateful for his lean, runner's build. He felt the ground rumble, felt it in his bones. He breathed in once, and then train was there. His hair pulled straight as it sped overhead, mere inches from his face and going over a hundred miles an hour. 

It felt like forever, felt the world was being ripped apart. And then it was just - over. Quiet and not a breath of air. He breathed out and sat up. Breathe in, he told himself, breath. Breathe. Breathebreathebreathe. 

A hand touched his neck, pulled his neck down and tilting his face up. Andrew's hazel eyes stared back at him. Neil grinned. 

"That was kind of fun," he whispered. 

Andrew's mouth dropped open. "You fucking adrenaline junkie!" His voice was quiet but emphatic. 

Neil grinned. Andrew's grip tightened on his neck, then he let go. Neil picked up his phone. 

DARE PASSED  
$2500 

●●●

They sat outside the icecream parlor at the cold metal tables. Andrew had a bowl of eight different scoops, each a different color of sickly pastel shades. Neil had been horrified to hear him order starburst flavored and stopped listening at cotton candy. He ate quietly from his simple vanilla waffle cone. Andrew had given him a disgusted look when he ordered. 

"I can't believe I'm paying for that hellish imposter of an icecream cone," he'd complained. 

"I didn't ask you to pay for mine," Neil had protested. "And vanilla is the O.G. of all ice creams." 

Andrew said, "O.G." 

Neil grinned sheepishly, "My friends told me I need to use more modern slang." 

"Don't. Ever." 

Neil had laughed. 

So now they sat in silence, eating ice cream and checking their bank accounts. Neil felt warm at the length of digits in the account balance box. It was a temporary account he'd set up at a local mom-and-pop bank. He'd created it specifically for Nerve and would withdraw the money and cancel the account when it was over. 

A nearby church clock clanged out 9 pm. They had three hours left. Five until the deadline Neil gave himself to get out of town. Nerve had made him noticeable. Even now people drove by with their cameras pointed at them. He had to leave. 

He glanced at Andrew. He didn't know why he wanted to tell him the truth. The truth would get him killed. But he'd never told anyone, not in eighteen years. He graduated in four months and he couldn't even tell you how many fake lives he had. How many schools he'd gone to, how many people he'd seen die. He felt centuries old. He'd lived his life in shadows and silence. Now he wanted to talk, he needed to tell. He didn't want to die with no one knowing he existed. Andrew had never pushed for information. That made Neil think he could tell exactly as much as he wanted - no more, no less. 

"I need the money to get out of here." The words left before he could think twice. Andrew glanced up from his ice scream but didn't stop eating. 

Neil continued. "My dad isn't a good person. Not even a decent one. He... he hurts people. Kills them. My mom took me and ran when I was ten. We lived on the run for years, never longer than a few months in any one place." 

Andrew turned to face Neil, the only sign of his interest for his face was still indifferent, body relaxed. 

"She died two years ago. Shot. I burned her body and kept running. Made it here before the money ran out. I need money to leave, get new IDs. My father's people might find me if I don't keep moving. I don't even know if they're still looking. But if they are, they'll kill me." 

He sucked in a breath, "so that's why I play." 

Andrew handed him the pack of cigarettes. Neil lit one, taking a drag. He needed to know.

"Why the broken compass?" He motioned unecessarily to his new tattoo. 

"I had a feeling you were running no where fast," was all Andrew said after several moments of silence. 

"You think I'm lost," Neil could hear the irritation seep into his voice. 

Andrew shrugged, "Just cause you know where you are doesn't mean you aren't lost." 

Neil's lip curled. "That sounds like therapist bullshit." 

Andrew's grin was surprisingly soft. "Probably. My mom is a therapist." 

Neil felt his eyes widen. Andrew had seemed like the type with a loving family. And they had to be loving to get a smile like that. 

He didn't say anything. 

Andrew's phone pinged. 

BREAK INTO THE ZOO.  
$500  
30 MINUTES  
ACCEPT?

Neil's phone pinged. 

BREAK INTO THE ZOO.  
$500  
30 MINUTES  
ACCEPT?

"Seems like the watchers think we're good for each other," Neil quipped. 

Andrew stood, "you're good for no one."

●●●

Breaking into the zoo was easier than Neil would've though. Pick a few locks, jump a few fences, and they were in. 

"I can't wait to see where this is going," Andrew said in a tone that made it clear he meant the opposite. 

Neil's phone dinged. He glanced at Andrew. "That cant be right. I did mine last. It's your turn." 

Andrew rose an eyebrow. Neil hated people who could do that. "Not how the game works, adrenaline junkie. Each players gets six dares. I did one before I met you, that puts me at five. I'm waiting for the final dare. You only have four. Your turn." 

"Awe," Neil cooed, "That's the most you've ever said to me." 

"Answer your phone." 

GO INTO THE HYENA PEN FOR THREE MINUTES.  
15 MINUTES  
$3000  
ACCEPT?

Neil's hands started to shake. Andrew read over his shoulder. 

"What? You have a thing about dogs?" 

Neil closed his eyes. The shining teeth and deep, booming barks that he felt in his brain, the way the chains rattled and snapped as the dogs fought to get free of them, the blood on his knuckles, the pain in his throat.

A hand on his neck, forcing him to his knees, brough him back yo the zoo. Andrew knelt in front of him again, his eyes wary and curious. He will ask. 

"You don't have to," his voice was quiet and firm. "You can bail. Keep the money. It's still a couple thousand." 

Neil saw knives, heard cackling laughter, pain in his chest. He had to. 

Neil forced himself to his feet, "where do we go?" 

Andrew was quiet. He pointed left and Neil set off, Andrew an unwavering presence at his side. 

The hyena pen was in the African Safari section, the zebras had a large enclosure in the center with the giraffes. Elephants had their own pen, twice as large with a three story observation deck. The hyenas were enclosed by a twenty foot high fence in an acre or so of land. They huddled at the far end, eyes glinting. Neil felt his heart pick up. He gripped the fence. Andrew touched his neck, a wordless reminder: you don't have to do this. 

Neil started to climb. It wasn't easy, given how hard it was to move his muscles. 

"You have four minutes to get in there." It was a statement, neither encouragement or reprimand. Neil hovered at the top of the fence, looked down at Andrew. He held Neil's phone, streaming to Nerve. 

The hyenas had gathered and moved to tge middle of the pen. They watched Neil, curious and unafraid. Used to humans. A noose constricted around his throat. His hands went cold and his head went fuzzy. He tasted something bitter in his mouth, so thick it choked him. His eyes burned with tears. He felt his hand pressed hard onto his abdomen where the scars were. 

"I bail," he whispered. Then, louder, "I bail." 

A synthesized voice filled the responding silence. "You bailed. You failed." 

He practically fell off the fence in his rush to get down. He laid on the cold asphalt, letting it seep into his hot skin. 

When he laughed, it sounded hysterical. "I can - I can lay under a train and steal from a cop but I can't get near a dog." He laughed again. 

Andrew lit a cigarette. For a while, it was ilent except for Neil's harsh breathing. Why couldn't he breath? The noose wouldn't go away. 

"I'm playing for my brother," Andrew said. Neil turned his head to look at him, but Andrew was staring at the sky.

"He played last year with his friends. One was dared to hang from a skyscraper at the top of a seventeen story skyscraper," Andrew continued. "It had rained that day and the poles were wet. The guy fell. Died, obviously," his voice was callous, careless. "And Aaron, my brother, went to the cops. Tried to turn in the game. He had a record for drugs so no one believed him, but the game makers found out. He broke the rules." 

Rule three, Neil remembered, snitches get stitches. 

"Since he'd gone to the cops, they couldn't easily make him disappear. It would've been suspicious. This game still exists thanks to secrecy and anonymity. So, instead they killed his mom, Tilda." 

"They killed your mom?" Neil winced at the outburst, but he couldn't help it. Andrew had said he had a mom.

"No. They killed his mom. That woman gave birth to me, but she isn't my mother." He was vehement, his tone brokered no arguement. "She gave me up. I jumped from foster home to foster home until I was seventeen. Then I found Betsy. She's my mom." 

Neil pushed himself up, he could breath again; Andrew's story giving him something else to focus on. He pressed his hand to his knees to still the shaking. 

Andrew sighed, After they killed Tilda, they drained her bank accounts. Left Aaron with nothing. Our cousin, Nicky stayed with him for a while, but one of the cops Aaron told about Nerve was my parole officer in juvie. He mistook Aaron for me and realized we are twins. He brought us together." 

Andrew finished his cigarette and drew another. "To get the bank accounts back and the rest of the life insurance money, Aaron needed to win Nerve. He'd become the third category of participant: Prisoner. But he wouldn't play. Said he couldn't, after last year. We're identical twins. Same face, same DNA, same fingerprints. If I can finish all six dares, if I win the game, then Aaron gets back Tilda's money. The only good thing she ever did for him was die." 

Neil stared. Andrew was waiting for his response. He nodded and promised, "We'll win the game. Sounds exciting." 

Andrew rolled his eyes, "junkie." 

His phone sounded a siren, long and looping peals of noise. 

"The finale," Andrew intoned dramatically, opening his phone to read the dare. ".... I should've seen this coming." He swallowed hard. 

GO TO THE ROOF OF THE CAPITOL CENTER.  
40 MINUTES BEFORE FAIL

●●● 

The Capitol Center was the tallest building in Columbia. The tallest building in South Carolina. It was 26 stories. 

You could see for miles in any direction, the light pollution chased off the stars but the rainbow gradient of colors that stretched in the blackness was it's own kind of beautiful. 

Andrew stood at the edge, looking straight ahead. 

"You don't have to do this, " Neil mimicked seriously. 

"Yeah, I do," Andrew mocked. He bit his lip when his phone went off. 

HANG FROM THE EDGE FOR 60 SECONDS.  
$5000  
6 MINUTES BEFORE FAIL

Andrew sat on the ledge, his phone in one hand. Neil sat next to him. He turned, breathed out, and lowered himself over the edge. Andrew positioned the phone to stream. Neil tensed, moving his hands toward Andrew's but not touching. He was ready to catch him if he needed to. It crossed his mind that Andrew hung one handed from the ledge of a 26 story building. He ignored the conplex feelings that followed that revelation. 

10 seconds. Andrew's knuckles were white. 

20 seconds. Neil could Andrew breathing. 

30 seconds. Andrew muttered curses, a steady litany of "fuckfuckshitfuckdammit."

40 seconds. "You can do this. For Aaron."  
"Shut up, Neil." 

50 seconds. "Only ten more seconds, Drew." 

60 seconds. 

Neil grabbed Andrew's hands and dragged him up. Andrew collapsed next to Neil, breathing hard, his pupils blocking out the gold of his eyes. 

"I'm afraid of heights," Andrew admitted.

"My dad used to starve our dogs for days and then lock me in the cellar with them as punishment." 

"You need therapy." 

Neil grinned, "I think it's a little early to introduce me to your mother, don't you think? Dan told me that's, like, sixth date stuff." 

Andrew laughed. Neil wanted to make him do it again. 

Ding

HANG FROM THE EDGE FOR 60 SECONDS.  
$5000 

Ding

NERVE VICTOR

Their phones went off to notify players of the final showdown between the top two players. Andrew was number three. 

"You want to go?" Neil asked. 

"Ich will dich küssen," Andrew said, in German. Neil's heart skipped a beat in panic before he realized Andrew hadn't intended for him to understand. I want to kiss you, he'd said. 

Neil stared at him, "Du solltest." You should.

**Author's Note:**

> Translations via Google translate. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought!


End file.
